Fran Philippe and Rob Knight look up from the historical sign showing the site of the old Concord Ski and Outing Club’s Winter Recreation Area by Russell Pond on May 1, 2025. (Photo by Geoff Forester/Concord Monitor)
Rob Knight stumbled upon the historic site around Russell Pond entirely by coincidence. He was in the process of helping the Concord Trails committee create a trail connecting Marjorie Swope Park to Carter Hill Orchard. The trail was initially supposed to cut through a different area of the woods, but ended up being right by the pond, exactly at the former site of the Concord Ski and Outing Club’s Winter Recreation Area.
“When the trail went through, you see this wonderful toboggan chute, this great half circle disappearing down the side. I went, “Woah!’” Knight said. “And then farther on, you have to look a little sharper. But out here in the middle of nowhere, you could see the old bases for the ski jump, where the ski jump went through.”
The recreation area, which consisted of a 30-meter wood trestle ski jump, a toboggan chute, ski trails and a lodge, existed from 1938 to 1951. During this time, it cost 25 cents to ski for the day. Now, the only physical remnants include a steep dip in the terrain where the slope and chute used to be — although both areas have since been grown over with trees and brush — and piles of stone that used to make up the ski jump’s base.
“I think a few people might hike right past this and never even notice it,” Knight said. “But many people might stop and think, ‘Huh, that’s strange.’”
Knight, formerly the chair of the trails committee, discovered the site around a decade ago and wanted to get signs put in along the trail to educate hikers about their surroundings. Now, in 2025, the project has finally been completed thanks to a grant from AARP, which has previously helped provide informational signage on other local trails.
“Part of our having the trails out there is somewhat education, so that people experience different parts of the city,” said Fran Philippe, current chair of the Concord Trails subcommittee, which is an offshoot of the city’s Conservation Commission. “Getting into the historic part is what makes it all the more interesting. We’re using this trail now, but ‘38 to ‘51, people were out here making use of it. So, it’s enjoyment and education.”
Ashley Davis, who helps run community outreach and advocacy for AARP, explained how the signage falls into the organization’s mission.
“A huge part of our work is in livable communities,” Davis said. “So, we have a whole national team that works on livable communities and the Age-Friendly Network.
One of the domains of livability that AARP focuses on is outdoor spaces and accessibility.”
Seeing the finished signs has created an added layer of fulfillment for Knight, who sourced information on the site from local historians and has been wanting to share this information with people for a while. He enjoys learning the context of the nature around him.
“Since I was a kid, I’ve loved being out in the woods,” he said. “I started hiking when I moved to my house in Hopkinton in 1984, and we started going into the woods and poking around and finding old trails and old roads.”
Knight and Philippe are both trail stewards, meaning they have assigned trails for which they are responsible. The trails group also forms new trails, a process Knight said is more complicated than people might expect. The first step is getting landowner permission to build a route, regardless of private or public land, he explained.
“Then you have to walk back and forth number of times to figure out a route to take,” Knight said. “And then comes the fun handy part, which is cutting the brush and clearing out the trail.”
Russell Pond and the new historical signs can be reached from District 5 Road or via the main entrance of Marjorie Swope Park.
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